"Er... it's...like a video game, but we're in the video game; and we have to stop those guys from killing these people!"

Damnú air! What's wrong with these civilians? "Oh hey shady individuals, let's go look at them!"
Calm, Saoirse, it's not real, it's not real...
still...I use an upwards angled gravity field to float the boy into my arms, and tell him to stay put behind the crates.
(( A diagonal upward field of the correct strength cancels out the vertical gravity, leaving only a (smaller) horizontal field that can move stuff but not too fast if I don't use a full 2 g ))Then I stasis another enemy, breaking the field around the guy Bob killed.Hsilkhroael... Hiltorel?I try to remember what I know about Hiltorel.
Then, if possible, I try to use my grav amp to throw one enemy into another, otherwise I just throw one straight up and let him drop.
I finish with another disabling electric zap.
Then I get into cover and shout at the robedudes
"Hey Tentacleface! I thought Hiltorel were supposed to be peaceful? Is killing innocent people your idea of being just?"

Stay close to Saoirse
Shoot at everyone who looks like they're targeting Saoirse with my minigun (max one shot)
If an enemy comes near me or Saoirse run towards that enemy while shouting "Get away from boss you bad people!" and give him a smack on the head with my crowbar
Get back into cover if needed
Shoot at the nearest enemie with my semiautomatic pistol (1 shot)

When bob sees Saoirse fling someone through the air: take a momentary pause and whisper "ooooh you're a wizard"

Bob
You put your pistol away and heft out your minigun from behind you, cradling it in your hands. The weapon is heavy enough that most men cannot hold it, but you can. Meanwhile, you see Saoirse attempt to move a civilian into cover. The boy flies up and over both you and Saoirse. "Ooooh," you say, as the boy flies overhead, splatting on the ground over to your left. "You're a wizard." Then you step out from behind cover, minigun going full blast, and quickly mow down not one, but two of the terrorists, filling them with bullets as they stumble back, falling, dark splatters on the walls behind them.

You're pleased with the effectiveness of the weapon, but decide to step back in cover when you notice... Saoirse is missing. "Boss?" you ask. "You there, boss?" That's when you realize that Saoirse is trapped beneath one of the wooden crates, which has somehow fallen off the top of the stack - probably the doing of the terrorists. She struggles, but can't seem to lift it herself. Worse yet - it seems to be on fire. You're just getting ready to free her when you see someone getting ready to fire; you switch to your pistol and hurriedly take a few wild, misaimed shots to try to fend them off.

Just then, Saoirse shouts out from beneath the crate at the enemies. "Hey! Tentacleface!" she yells. "I thought Hiltorel were supposed to be peaceful! Is killing innocent people your idea of being just?" It gets the attention of one of the beings; he moves closer, gun lowered slightly, eyeing her closely.

"Balkoel wekoaeb he a helieti yida mifal haga fo," the being spits out in a gutteral tone. "Saka arima tsila o arima ouhen. Filthy human scum." He raises his weapon to fire at her.

Saoirse
You turn towards the boy, willing him to move with your gravity amp, intending to float him into your arms - but this fails dramatically. Instead of landing in your arms, the boy flies up, over both you and Bob (who declares you a wizard), and onto the ground with a thud and a scream. "Get behind the crates!" you yell. But the boy gives a terrified look - first at you, then your mechanical arm - and tries to scramble away. It's only seconds before he gets shot in the chest and head by the terrorists.

Just then, a trail of flame traces its way across the ground to the stack of giant wooden crates you're hiding behind, soon reaching the crates themselves; they begin to catch fire. You notice that a few of the Hiltorel terrorists seem to be empty-handed; this is no doubt their doing. That's okay, though. It's not like you wanted to sit on top of the crates anyway, and there's not much chance they wanted to sit on top of you...

...that's when you look up, just in time to see the top crate plummet toward you, tipped off the stack by a gravity field. You try to get out of the way, but you're not nearly fast enough - the heavy wooden container crushes you beneath it, flattening you to the ground. Struggling, you try to get up, but it's too heavy to lift from a prone position like this; thankfully (and perhaps miraculously), nothing seems broken. You calm yourself, taking deep breaths. It's not real. You've established this already. It'll be all right.

It's strange that the Hiltorel are attacking you, though. You thought they were peaceful. You studied them briefly in school; they can't handle human gravity well, and typically wear a "gravity belt" that projects a localized field about them, halving the gravitational effects and bringing it to their comfortable level. Without it, they wouldn't even be able to move. You wonder if you might weaponize this somehow... but don't see an immediate way.

Instead, you focus your efforts on fighting the cultists. Stretching out your arm from beneath the edge of the crate, you concentrate and send one of them flying against another, knocking them both off their feet. They struggle to get up. Next you try zapping another one with your electrical amp, and while the alien stumbles briefly as though in pain, he continues fighting, shooting one of the few remaining civilians in the head. Most of them are dead, injured, or fled. Soon they'll be refocusing their efforts on you... and it's becoming rather warm. The flames dance ever closer...

"Hey! Tentacleface!" you shout. "I thought Hiltorel were supposed to be peaceful! Is killing innocent people your idea of being just?" It gets the attention of one of the beings; he moves closer, gun lowered slightly, eyeing you as the tentacles whip beneath his robe. You can faintly make out the strange flatness of its narrow face; the flaps around the mouth, a loose tentacle off to the side. Its eyes, black and void, seem almost demonic. "Balkoel wekoaeb he a helieti yida mifal haga fo," he spits out in a guttural tone. "Saka arima tsila o arima ouhen. Filthy human scum."

He raises his weapon to fire.

((You failed your first stasis roll and it was canceled out by the crate hitting you anyway.))

I try to remember if I understand whatever language the guy is spouting (I assume it's Hiltorel, but you never know)
If I do, I mentally translate whatever the guy is saying. (if that doesn't take time)
If I don't, I say "Tartarus didn't even bother to program you a believable reason for this scenario? And that's not even how Hiltorel eyes look, they're not all black. Geez, lazy."
(( ))

"Bob, I would mightily appreciate if you could shoot that guy before he shoots me.
I don't like feeling going to bed again yet.
And after that, some help in getting this crate off would be nice if I don't manage myself."

With one hand I use my stasis amp to freeze the dude because Bob is meleeing him, while with my right hand I use my electro amp to throw a lightning bolt into his rude alien face.

(( since amps are one handed, I should be able to dual wield two different ones I think? ))

Then, if the crate is still on top of me, I wait for Bob to get it off.

When he did, I thank him while smiling, then I take my whacky stick.
While I'm holding it and not using it, I use it to block and parry at all times.
(( standing order, I'm not gonna repeat that 10 times ))I wonder how this thing works... well, can't be harder than dancing a reel.
Now, I need something cool to shout, something Eastern...starting with a b... but what...
(( suggested background music: The Glen Road To Carrick ))1, 2, 3, dash!I dash towards the remaining enemies, shouting "BOK CHOOYYY!"Nope, not quite the right word. Oh well, next time better.
1, 2, 3, spin!I twirl around holding the staff at its end, trying to knock over 3 of the enemies, while shouting "HYYYAAAAAAAA!". I use my intuition to time this when they're not attacking me.1, 2, 3, smack!I smack the pointy end of my staff into the middle of one of the enemies (where the gravbelt should be), preferably one I just stunned. I again use my intuition to time this when they're not attacking me.1, 2, 3, flee!I dash back into cover.

If neither me nor Bob ever got the crate of me, I instead stasis a dude, and try to throw the crate away towards the enemies with my grav amp again.

Either way, I finish by counting how many enemies are left.

Last edited by Dinosawer on Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:28 am, edited 5 times in total.

Bob storms at the guy that is aiming at Saoirse (roar while running) and tries to tackle him (Bob didn't hear Saoirse asking him anything, he's too panicked for that)
If bob succeeds in tackeling the guy, he jumps on top of the guy and tries to smash the dude's head with a crowbar (2 hits) (He also tries to smash the guy if he couldn't tackle him).
If that succeeded Bob walks back to Saoirse and says "everything OK boss?, I hit bad guys for you." with a childish smile. Then he frees Saoirse of the heavy crate and nonchalantly throws it away.
Bob gets back into cover and uses his minigun to sweep the battlefield (only if this doesn't count as multiple actions, otherwise just shoot once at the nearest enemy threatening Saoirse)

Bob
You see the terrorist about to kill Saoirse, and leap to your feet. "DON'T SHOOT BOSS! DON"T SHOOT BOSS!" you cry out, charging the man with an angered, panicked roar and a speed you hadn't known you possessed. Your leg burns with a stabbing pain as you run; your stomach isn't much better, but you push through. In moments you're on him; he dodges to the side to avoid your tackle, but your crowbar out, you swing. It catches him full in the face, ripping open his delicate skull amid a spray of blue-colored blood. As he falls to the ground, you crash your weapon into his head a second time to be sure he's dead, practically smashing it through. Bullets ring out around you, whizzing as they fly; you realize you're in open ground, completely without cover. You start back towards Saoirse, stumbling, almost tripping over bodies; you feel a line of bullets, two or three, pierce your back from behind, and cry out from the pain as you stagger on, coughing and swaying.

The ground shifts. For a moment, there is nothing beneath you but sky; it flickers and suddenly the earth is a flat, grassy field, then solid black... but it goes back to normal as you reach Boss, so you put it out of your mind.

"Everything okay, Boss?" Every word feels like daggers in your chest. It's hard for you to breathe. "I hit... bad guys for you," you manage, giving a sad smile. You strain your muscles, throwing the heavy wooden crate off of her and to the side. She leaps to her feet, thanking you, and rushes back into combat... just as a bullet shatters your left shoulder.

With some agonized effort, feeling winded, dizzy, and confused, you manage to get back behind the crates, and slump to the ground, trying as best you can to pull out your minigun... but you just can't manage it one-armed, and the other arm isn't working right. You glance back toward Boss, hoping she's okay; she spins and whirls among the bad people, smacking them this way and that. Now Boss is protecting you... but that's not her job. You feel anxious, and it isn't long before you see her get shot; see her stumble.

Everything is beginning to feel dark and quiet. Even the pain doesn't hurt as much anymore.

The darkness is coming.

Saoirse
You understand a smattering of Hiltorellian. "Balkoel" is something like "You" or "your group", while "wekoab" has something to do with "death", but an action - "to cause death". "He a hilieti" is something like "my group" or "my people"... but the rest is mostly unknown to you. You catch the word "mifal" - "have/had stolen", you think, and unless you're mistaken, he's talking about "this place". If you were to guess, you would think he was accusing you of killing his people and stealing their planet... but you're not sure what the rest is.

"Bob, I would mightily appreciate it if you could shoot that guy before he shoots me," you say, but before you finish, you realize he's not even listening. With a mighty roar, he leaves cover and storms to the hiltorel terrorist with an incredible speed, flinging himself at the alien for a flying tackle. When the guy effortlessly dodges, Bob sweeps his arm around wildly, planting the end of his crowbar firmly in his face with an expulsion of thick, blue blood. He hits the terrorist a few more times to make sure he's dead, and then starts back toward you. His stomach bursts on the way back, a line of several bullet punctures from his waist to his chest; he stumbles and sways, coughing, but finally makes it back to you. Blood trickles from his mouth.

"I hit... bad guys for you," he manages, and then exerts his enormous strength to throw the crate from atop you. You thank him, smiling, and pull out your kinetic battlestaff, letting it hover before you. Your hand pressed to its center, you begin letting it whirl about rapidly, and charge toward what's left of the Hiltorel terrorists. They are scattered; most of them seem to think you and Bob are down for the count. A couple of them are beginning to set fire to the surrounding buildings, clearly intending to burn the town to the ground. You don't plan on letting that happen.

"BOK CHOYYYY!!!!" you scream as you approach; it alerts them to your presence. Some of them reload - others fire. Bullets fly past - you sense them with your mind - the staff alters the rate of its spin rapidly as bullets smack against it with a series of ear-splitting cracks. You get to the center of their group and swing the staff around, leaning back as it passes over your head; you catch three of them dead-center and the staff shudders, sending them flying backwards a surprising distance - one of them into the wall, where he smacks loudly and falls to the ground, motionless. Another attacker comes at you; holding the battlestaff like a spear, you ram it into his stomach, completely destroying his gravbelt; flying backwards, he tumbles to the ground, rolling, and comes to a stop in a heap.

But then your luck runs out. A bullet catches you in the leg, making you dizzy from the pain; you limp back, slowly, toward the crates. You trip over a woman's corpse, stumbling to the ground. With some effort, you get back to your feet; another bullet grazes your chest, then your arm.

Somehow, you manage to get back to cover, and sink to the ground beside Bob, who doesn't even seem to notice you at first.

Bob tries to get up again
Take a shot with the semi-auto pistol in the general direction of the enemies and look where Saoirse is
Stumble (or crawl if that's more applicable) over to where Saoirse is
If Saoirse is standing up: Push her down, use my body-weight if needed.
When Saoirse is on the ground:
- Bob Hunkers down over Saoirse and protects her with his body, Bob positions himself in such a way that whenever he would die he would fall on Saoirse, covering her with his body. "Boss be still now, Bob will protect Boss, everything's going to be ok for Boss" *Grimace*
- From this point on shoot at every enemy that comes in this direction ((to hell with the multi-shot rule))

I sink down against the crate, and look at my staff.Nice work, whacky stick. Well, I can't call you whacky stick anymore can I? You deserve a name. From now on, you are... Spoon!I put away Spoon, and proceed to blast the dude I knocked away (the one that still has a gravbelt) with an electro zap,
zap another enemy while throwing another into the air, (( dual wielding, if possible - I think it should be as mentioned previous turn? ))
and finish by throwing another one into the air.

When inevitably we both sink down exhausted, I settle down against Bob, and give him Jimmy.
"You did well Bob. I'm glad we ended up together here.
I think it's time to go back to sleep now..."

(( Please give the music a listen as it conveys better than I can the emotions I'm trying to convey ))

Bob
Fighting the darkness, you try to struggle to your feet. "Boss," you mumble, less than half aware of the movement of your lips. "Need to... protect Boss..." Your face distorts in agony as you put weight on your leg, and you sink back to the ground, firing a round from your pistol in the general direction of the enemies. You can't even tell if you hit anything.

Half-blind, you crawl over to Boss, faintly aware of the trail of blood you leave behind. She's lying slumped against a crate, trying to fight as best she can with what's left of her strength. You get over her, pushing her back into cover, protecting her with your body. "Boss, be still now," you whisper. "Bob will protect Boss. Everything's going to be okay for Boss." Shifting, you grimace as you try to reload your pistol; you find you can't. Your fingers simply don't have the mobility.

The darkness is coming.

"You did well, Bob," Boss tells you, taking your pistol and reloading it for you. As she gives it back, she says, "I'm glad we ended up together here." She hands you Jimmy; you collapse as you try to take him; weakly, you hold him close to your chest.

A terrorist appears in the edges of your vision. You half roll over, firing wildly, blindly in his direction; you aren't sure what happens, or even whether you hit, but he disappears again. You realize your gun is empty again; you've emptied it. Using the very last of your strength, you roll back over and scoot closer to Boss.

She sings to you. "Sleep, O babe, for the red bee hums
The silent twilight's fall:
Aibheall from the Grey Rock comes
To wrap the world in thrall..."

Your eyes close, for the last time.

You pass from this world.

Saoirse
You sink down against the crate, looking at your staff. Spoon, you'll name it. Too bad you're in a simulation, so you won't get to keep it... assuming you even remember this later at all. For that matter, maybe you've named it a hundred, or even a thousand times before. You put the staff away, and look around the edge of the crates toward the terrorists, trying to zap one of them. This fails, so you make a second attempt on a closer one - who only seems lightly fazed by your attempt. It's no wonder, either; you feel weak, and it's agonizing to try to move to look around the edge of the burning crate. You try to throw an enemy into the air - and this works - but only once. The flying hiltorel flies high into the air (thanks to the grav unit), and comes back down with a crack on the ground. A stray bullet hits you in the arm; at this point, you hardly notice it.

Behind you, you hear movement; it's Bob. "Boss, be still now," he whispers, crawling over you. He's hardly conscious, but still using the last of his strength to try to protect you. "Bob will protect Boss. Everything's going to be okay for Boss." He grimaces as he rolls over, his legs draped over yours, trying to reload his pistol with fumbling fingers. Feeling empathetic towards him, you take the pistol and start reloading it yourself. "You did well, Bob," you reassure him kindly. As you give it back, you say, "I'm glad we ended up together here." You pick up Jimmy, Bob's stuffed bear, and hand it to him. He takes it from you and holds it close to his chest.

Just then, a terrorist appears around the edge of the crates, poised to fire - but Bob doesn't give him a chance, wildly unloading his gun. Reflexively, you toss the hiltorel up and back with your grav amp - he flies into the sky, tentacles flailing beneath his cloak - and then stretches, skews, glitches, and disappears completely. Bob doesn't seem to notice; his shirt soaked with sweat, he rolls back toward you.

The crates behind you roar with flames. You hear shouts farther in the town - but you're slowly fading. It seems the town is rallying their defensive troops... but you don't know if you'll last long enough to see it happen. Bob certainly won't. His skin is so pale at this point; he's lost a lot of blood.

Grimacing, you scoot up higher against the box of crates, put a reassuring arm around Bob, and sing to him softly. "Sleep, O babe, for the red bee hums
The silent twilight's fall:
Aibheall from the Grey Rock comes
To wrap the world in thrall..."

As you begin to sing, his eyes close... as you continue, his breathing stills.

Bob is gone.

Numbed, you get out your pipes and begin playing a quiet lullaby.

Bright red energy shots stream inwards from the alleyway to the left, toward the terrorists. Then, without warning, everything dies away. Your lullaby echoes in your ears as the world abruptly ceases with a deafening silence and a sharp scream of static that marks the end of your existence.
This tryout thread has come to an end. Its participants are once more in the darkness of cryo, pending their rude awakening in the crashed starship, Nemesis. Whether they remember these events is uncertain, and up to the players to decide.